->''I wish I could sleep like normal people.''
-->-- '''Joseph Carey Merrick''', better known as TheElephantMan

->'''Dean''': Why... Why can't I just have a normal life!
->'''Dr. Venture''': I had that dream once too.
-->--''TheVentureBros''

They [[WillfullyWeak didn't want these powers]], this magic, this curse, or whatever it is that was foisted upon them. [[ComesGreatResponsibility The responsibility to save the world?]] Forget it! All those exciting adventures and the ability to potentially do anything? Take it away. They want nothing to do with it.

Needing to be normal often comes in waves. Often, it hits critical levels, and the character threatens to quit, or even [[TenMinuteRetirement does so temporarily]].

While this is all well and good, most writers conveniently forget that after such an exciting and exceptional existence, everything else will seem dull and meaningless to most people. Not only are [[DePower special abilities usually given up]], but sometimes also cherished friends. Some people psychologically will be unable to adjust, and most will acquire deep-seated mental issues about the whole process.

This can also include situations where overt powers or the like are not involved, wherein the characters are involved in an exceptional situation. It can also occur when characters, for no particular reason other than that the show is ending or that they're leaving it, have a sudden and usually implausible epiphany that they really want to live a "normal" life. Somehow this almost invariably includes them cutting ties with the entirety of the rest of the characters and locations.

One common subversion is [[CantStayNormal Can't Stay Normal]] where the character finally ''becomes'' normal, but is not able to adjust to it, and [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow longs for their old life back]]. Or just as they achieve their normality, something happens where they NEED their abilities back, particularly to save the LoveInterest. Either may be a TenMinuteRetirement, the former may be a SequelHook. If someone is ''constantly'' being forced by the plot to do heroic things, when really they want to be left alone, they're HeroicNeutral.

See also CursedWithAwesome, WhoWantsToLiveForever, and RefusalOfTheCall. Contrast JumpedAtTheCall, where wanting to be normal never even occurs to the hero. Naturally, the opposite of this trope is IJustWantToBeSpecial. Also see BlessedWithSuck, when the hero has ''every reason'' to want to be normal.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime]]

* ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'' Part 4 BigBad Kira Yoshikage's main motivation was to live a normal and uneventful life. When you consider what his [[SerialKiller main hobby is]] it makes his goal kind of contradictory.
** One could argue that it was less the motivation to have a normal life and more the motivation to do whatever the hell he wanted, considering at the end of the series he has a good chance to take his normal life, but doesn't in favor of continuing his...activities.
* Most {{Magical Girl}}s, especially Usagi of ''SailorMoon'', who spent all of the first arc of ''SailorMoon R'' saying this and got two separate chances at it via reincarnation-induced amnesia - once before the show started, once at the end of the first series.
** Exception: Nanoha, from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', and Yui, from ''CorrectorYui'', both of whom [[JumpedAtTheCall jump into the weirdness]] with both feet. Yui does this because she is a GenreSavvy MagicalGirl {{Otaku}}, Nanoha because [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife she is looking for a true calling]]. ShugoChara is somewhere between the two extremes. The powers didn't seem to bother Amu,it's the charas that annoyed her.
** And now the ''justified'' version: ''SailorNothing''. Oh, Sailor Nothing.
*** Usagi is pretty justified too, what with the whole "having powers will kill you and your friends" angle. She even cried when she does get her powers back in ''SailorMoon R'' because getting them back also means she remembers watching her friends and her lover all die in battle right in front of her.
** Parodied with ''PrettySammy'', whose whole motivation for not wanting to keep her powers is because her outfit is lame and being a skimpily clad superhero is really embarrassing.
* Ichigo of ''TokyoMewMew'' wanted to be normal out of fear that her crush Masaya would reject her if he found out -- [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld fighting aliens is really not a big deal compared to this]].
* ''{{Pretear}}'', on the other hand, is a [[SubvertedTrope strange case]]. By the time Himeno receives the CallToAdventure, she already doesn't consider her life to be "normal", since she is all of a sudden a member of a rich family and feels ridiculously out of place there. Turns out that something even weirder -- namely, being a MagicalGirl -- actually [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld fits her better]]. To the point when she almost gets a HeroicBSOD upon being BroughtDownToNormal for one episode.
* Chisame Hasegawa in ''MahouSenseiNegima'' was fed-up with her strange classmates even before she got a CuteShotaroBoy for a teacher. Naturally, things go downhill from there.
** She eventually just gives up entirely after [[spoiler: traveling to the Magic World with Ala Alba.]]
**Another of the less blatantly eccentric ones, [[spoiler: Asuna]], turns out to only be normal because she ''succeeded'' at this, with the help of some LaserGuidedAmnesia. When the aformentioned CuteShotaroBoy appears, she goes back to paranormal of her own will not as a deliberate choice, but because ''she doesn't remember choosing to become normal in the first place'', much less being abnormal. Remember, always analyze what you would do if you didn't know what you know if you plan on getting rid of that knowledge.
** It's brought up again subtly with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline]]; she admits that the reason she hates [[spoiler: Asuna]] because [[spoiler: Asuna]] was actually successful at becoming normal, but gave it up anyway. Eva is pissed because the person who got what she most desired wasted the chance, while Eva never got a chance to be normal to begin with.
* Kahlua from ''GalaxyAngel Rune'' and ''[[GalaxyAngelGameverse Galaxy Angel II]]'', as a child, had tried to save a friend with her magic, but said friend was less than grateful, instead scared away by her strength. The result was a fear of not being normal, and she mentally [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] a large percentage of her own power by choice. This created her SuperpoweredEvilSide, Tequila.
* ''ALittleSnowFairySugar'' rather poorly handles this in its resolution.
* ''HauntedJunction'', in its two-part finale, shows very clearly that a life of "normalcy" is in fact [[spoiler:nothing to enjoy and criticizes the trend.]]
* It is fairly common in RealRobot series for the main character to wish for a return to their regular life, usually due to the fact that their unique situation is brought on by warfare.
* It takes several episodes of ''{{Bleach}}'' for main character Ichigo Kurosaki to accept the responsibility of his borrowed Shinigami powers.
* A variant of this occurs in ''HayateTheCombatButler''. After finding out Hayate wants a normal girl and normal life, Nagi finds Ayumu Nishizawa, essentially the [[TheGenericGuy most normal person in the cast]]. ([[LemonyNarrator The narrator]] pointed this out.) and follows her all day, learning how to be "normal". In the end, she realizes that normal is "an extremely scaled down version of what I normally do."
* We're still not sure what the hell's going on in ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'', especially in relation to Kyon. He continually mentions how he wishes Haruhi would just settle down and be a normal, well-adjusted schoolgirl (Hell, it's even in his ImageSong), but the fact that he's an UnreliableNarrator (in regards to his feelings, anyway) and that he was once stuck in a universe where everything ''was'' normal and he ''still'' attempted to revert it to its very Haruhi, abnormal state may prove otherwise...
** And how can we forget [[spoiler: Yuki Nagato]], starting in ''Disappearance'', which essentially makes her [[spoiler: TheWoobie]].
* In ''{{Guyver}}'', Sho doesn't want to have the powers. When he technically has the opportunity to get rid of them (when the [[spoiler:Guyver Remover is found]]), he still keeps them because he needs to protect his friends. The new anime adds a nice twist to this, with Tetsuro picking up the G-Unit first and then passing it to Sho only when it started sprouting tentacles.
* In ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'', most of the characters just want to be rid of their curses. Granted, most would be pretty damn weird even ''without'' their curses.
** The characters of Ranma 1/2 fit this trope only tenatively. They have absolutely no complaints with their abnormal lives or their superhuman abilities, and most would probably hate being forced into normality in that fashion; the sole element of their lives they want gone are their Jusenkyo curses, which all but one character finds at the least annoying and at worst actively harmful to their lives. The one exception grew up with his curse... and also happens to go from cruel, egotistic {{Bishonen}} to a giant monster that the best martial artists of his generation have serious trouble defeating.
* Shinji Ikari from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' really, REALLY doesn't want to pilot a giant mech and save the world. Subverted when he runs away and realizes that ''without'' the Eva, he has (and ''is'') nothing.
** Rei Ayanami in the AlternateContinuity spinoff ''Angelic Days'' takes up this role. She transfers schools so often that she just can't find any time to adapt to her surrroundings and make any stable friendships.
* Tsuna Sawada from ''KatekyoHitmanReborn''. ''Of course'' he's not a mafia boss, ''really''.
* In ''{{Naruto}}'', unlike virtually everyone else in a [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters cast of thousands]] who are either trying to become heads of state, living legends, [[AGodAmI outright immortals]], gain the acceptance of their [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer persecutors]], [[RoaringRampageofRevenge avenge horrific wrongs]], or various combinations thereof- Shikamaru Nara's driving goal in life has ever been to achieve a basic level of competence as a ninja, meet a decent girl, get married, have two kids, and stay alive until retirement. [[BadassBookworm Poor bastard never had a chance.]]
** He's not technically even a Bookworm despite being a genius. He's ''that'' damn lazy. He ''really'' doesn't want to fight, [[BrilliantButLazy but he]] ''[[BrilliantButLazy will]]'' [[BrilliantButLazy kick your ass when pressed]].
** Given his CharacterDevelopment in Shippuden, it would appear that his goals have become somewhat more lofty.
* Nagisa spends almost all of the two ''Iczelion'' {{OVA}}s whining and crying about being chosen to bond with the Iczel.
* Simon of ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is both an example and an aversion. It was a constant of the first few episodes that he would plead with Kamina to return home once the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Ganmen Of The Week]] started pulverising them, but Kamina's [[HotBlooded Manly Spirit]] (TM) forced him to repeatedly change his tune, eventually reaching the point where his obligatory HeroicBSOD is completely shattered and the trope abandoned in favour of Simon delivering a never-ending stream of [[CrowningMomentOfAwesomeMechaAnime Crowning Moments Of Awesome]].
** In the first page of the spin off manga, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Guren Gakuenhen, Simon prays to his dead parents "Please, Please! Let me have an extremely normal life". In the second page, Kamina kicks down his window in an attempt to be MoeMoe.
* In ''[[{{FateStayNight}} Fate/stay night]]'' this was [[{{KingArthur}} Saber's]] entire motivation to win the Holy Grail, though with the intent of remaining normal so the country she led would have a better ruler.
** Additionally, Shirou, for a good bit of the initial stages of the war, wanted to -- and tried to -- withdraw from the war. Didn't get far on that one. (You get the option in the game, but if you do quit, [[BadEnd Ilya and Berserker eat you]].)
*** Shirou did ''not'' wanted to be normal. He'd be a lot cheerier about the whole thing if Kotomine didn't poke a giant hole in his fun by pointing out that superheroes need tragedies to happen in order to fix them.
** Shiki from {{Tsukihime}} had a similar problem. To be fair, his power was [[BlessedWithSuck truly lethal, even to himself and people around him]].
* [[MartianSuccessorNadesico "I JUST WANT TO BE A CHEF, GODDAMMIT!"]]
* In ''OnePiece'', at the end of his fight with Zoro, Kaku expressed regret that he never got to lead a normal life, having been raised to be an assassin. In the manga, him and the rest of [=CP9=] take a stab at this with the World Government hot on their tails.
* In ''StrawberryPanic'', Amane doesn't want to be Etoile and didn't ask for her legions of [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer fangirls]] -- she just wants to ride her horse in peace. Her [[TheRival rival]], Kaname, finally makes the point to her that only she can win the Etoile election for Spica; the whole school has placed its hopes with Amane, and like it or not, that gives her a responsibility. It's strange how this particular [[AnAesop Aesop]] feels more [[BrokenAesop Broken]] with a normal human being than with a superhero, Slayer, or whatever.
* Sakaki in ''AzumangaDaioh'' is a [[ShrinkingViolet deeply shy girl]] who's cursed with being TallDarkAndBishoujo. Other girls mistake her silence for coldness, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer and this has made her an idol]] -- which embarrasses her, but she's too shy to say ''that'' either. Sakaki would much rather be small and cute like Chiyo-chan... who would much rather be big and tall like Sakaki.
* Zelgadis in TheSlayers is a prime example. CursedWithAwesome in the form of being merged with a stone golem and a demon, in the anime his quest can actually make him seem motivated by vanity, due to the fact his warped body isn't unattractive in an exotic sort of way ([[CuteMonsterGirl almost a Cute Monster Guy]]), he doesn't really care about people anyway (which makes their being afraid of him when they see him have less impact), and most importantly his body gives him super powers. It boosts his energy reserves, allowing him to cast more spells than either of his companions, allows him to go for ages without food or water, gives him superhuman strength, speed, hearing and stamina, and makes him NighInvulnerable to all practical purposes (only incredibly powerful attacks can hurt him- Demon Lords, the [[ForgottenSuperWeapon Sword of Light]], etcetera).
* ''NightWizard'''s Renji is one of the most powerful Wizards around and can easily save the world with very little work. Except he wants to stop going on missions and actually get a chance to finish school, which is all but impossible with the number of times Anzelotte keeps calling him away.
* Oboro from {{Basilisk}} would just love to marry her fiancé Gennosuke and live HappilyEverAfter. However, they're both the heirs and leaders of warring Ninja clans...
** There's also [[GenkiGirl Genki Boy]] Yashamaru, who views the clan truce as his chance to get married to his beloved fiancée and fellow Iga Ninja [[FriendToAllLivingThings Hotarubi]]. They both get [[spoiler:''bloodily'' killed off. [[TearJerker Sniff]].]]
* [[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple Kenichi]] is usually pretty happy with the changes in his life due to meeting Miu (i.e., Miu herself), TrainingFromHell aside. However, he's less than happy with the fights that he's forced into as a result. It's best illustrated [[http://www.onemanga.com/Historys_Strongest_Disciple_Kenichi/324/08/ here]] as he sneaks into the cruise ship of a [[spoiler:worldwide criminal organization led by some of the most dangerous martial artists in the world, whose disciples want to kill Kenichi]] to prove their Badassitude.
--->'''Kenichi:''' ''Where did I go wrong in life?''
*The main character of Nurarihyon no Mago starts this way, wanting to just live a normal life as a human despite being the heir to a huge clan of youkai and a quarter-youkai himself. But [[spoiler:it's averted early on in the first real story arc, when he begins to fully understand his youkai nature and learns of the impact his attitude is having on others firsthand. He decides that while he does want to live a peaceful life, protecting the people close to him and leading his clan is far more important.]]
* In a rare non-supernatural example, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlei5gydjrz Mio]]. [[spoiler: She chose bass instead of guitar because she doesn't like to be the center of attention. Wildly subverted in the anime; Mio's forced to take the lead singer's place in the 3 lives the girls perform.]]
* Judai in {{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}} becomes notably [[{{understatement}} less cheerful]] when suddenly the only thing stopping all his friends from dying and the world ending is the card game he loved so much. And up until this point he was the only one who really ''did'' seem to treat it as a card game. [[spoiler:Eventually the stress becomes so bad that he surrenders to his super powered evil side and starts taking over the duel monsters world, requiring ''two'' heroic sacrifices to get him back to ''efficiency''. He doesn't start enjoying dueling again until a decent bit into the next season... at which point the next big bad starts trying to implement {{instrumentality}}.]] [[{{deconstruction}} Sucks, huh?]]
*Averted with Onpu the grade-school idol in OjamajoDoremi. Even though some of the negative aspects of it are there (her mom's too busy to be with her on Christmas) she loves the attention she gets and the work itself.
*The entire plot of CardCaptorSakura was this from [[RealityWarper Clow]] [[AGodAmI Reed]], even the very ''existence'' of the titular heroine. He was so damn powerful he couldn't control his own powers, mostly seeing the future, which took away all the pleasures of life. So he created a ''more powerful witch'' (Sakura) who could divide his power between his two reincarnation-like versions, one of them being ''Sakura's father''.
** Only in the manga, though. In the anime Clow just died so everything else happens equally, except the Sakura's dad being half of Clow and the dividing power thing.
** Sequel series xxxHoLic and TsubasaReservoirChronicle go into more detail about why he wanted to divide his power so badly- just by wishing someone wasn't dying, he turned her into an immortal zombie, eternal unliving as everyone around her ages and dies. He took this even harder than she did, somehow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]

* [[Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} Peter Parker]] has attempted to give up the SuperHero life several times, only to come back when someone is in need. Such an attempt was the foundation of the second movie's plot.
* This is also common for [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} mutants]] in the MarvelUniverse, who tend to become social pariahs if their status becomes public.
* The ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' comic inverted this, with Beast Boy losing his powers in a particular StoryArc. Everyone assumes that he'll be happy about being normal again, until he states that he ''never'' wanted to be normal.
** While ''TeenTitans'' the animated series plays it [[BittersweetEnding painfully straight...]]
--->'''Beast Boy:''' Why can't [[ResetButton things just go back to the way they were?]] You were so happy then.
--->'''"The Schoolgirl":''' [[MisaimedFandom Things were never the way you remember.]] Now just leave me alone.
** The Titans comic also played it as straight as can be with Beast Boy's best friend Cyborg. Half-human half-machine Vic Stone has struggled with IJustWantToBeNormal for decades.
** Titans supporting character Frances Kane has tried very hard to be normal over the years; unfortunately, a combination of SuperpoweredEvilSide and the writers' desire for a ChewToy tends to get in the way.
* Used in a rather awesome way in the third ''BlueBeetle'' comic series, when the villainous Eclipso grants the Blue Beetle all his deepest, most secret desires. Turns out he wants to be a dentist.
* ''{{Runaways}}'' character Karolina Dean would rather be a normal, Hollywood teenager, rather than the lesbian child of two alien criminals.
** Only when things go awkward, as when she tried to kiss Nico and turned out she wasn't interested. At the end of the first series she was the first one who ran out of her foster house and contacted everyone, as she wanted to "fly again".
* [[Comicbook/FantasticFour Ben Grimm, The Thing]], is the poster boy for this trope. Despite his complaints about being an orange rock monster, every time he's be "cured", he finds a reason to become The Thing, again. He actually enjoys being the FF's strong man and "The Idol of Millions", but just wishes he could walk down the street without being stared at.
** Which by this point is probably more because of the whole "Idol of Millions" thing than because of his appearance, so he's got nothing to complain about.
*** Apart from having non-reinforced floors give way under him.
* In ''[[SevenSoldiers The Bulleteer]]'', both Alix and her "archnemesis" Sally Sonic wish they were normal people; It was this intense desire to live a normal life that led Sally to provoke Alix's husband to killing himself, because she so wanted to be in her place and be genuinely loved by a normal man.
** Alix also can't stop meeting up with people who are [[IJustWantToBeSpecial the opposite]], especially the uber-pathetic Mind Grabber Man.
* Subverted with Man-Thing. A scientist who was transformed into a walking, empathic compost heap should be all over this trope, but most of the time he doesn't simply because his transformation cost him his mind- he's little more than, well, a big plant, and any human memories are gone.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) in ''PracticalMagic''.
* Extreme example: in ''TheMatrix'', Cypher wants to return to life in the Matrix so much that he makes a deal with the machines to help them capture Morpheus, on the condition that they plug him back in and erase his memories of life outside. Admittedly, he does request that he be turned into someone important, like a famous actor.
** An entire faction of enemies in the sequel game ''The Matrix Online'' shares Cypher's point of view, however it is revealed that such a process is actually imposssible.
* Susan in ''MonstersVsAliens'', who spends the first half of the movie fantasizing about shrinking back to normal and having a normal life with her husband-to-be. She eventually comes to terms with her new body and ability, culminating in taking the name Ginormica as her own.
* ''{{Godzilla}} vs. Destoroyah'' includes a scene of two psychic women at the UNGCC base, discussing the fact that their PsychicPowers are slowly disappearing. One of them says that she wants to live a normal life, [[StayInTheKitchen with a husband and kids]], earning her a look of purest bewilderment and contempt from the other.
* This is the premise of {{Hancock}}.
* Bethany in ''{{Dogma}}''. Jesus is said to have also been like this for some years--the ones not recounted in the Bible.
* John Conner from TheTerminator

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]

* In her first appearance in the ''{{Discworld}}'' novels, Susan Sto Helit refused to believe she was Death's granddaughter. In later appearances she still attempts to maintain a "normal" life, and insists on being sensible and using logic, often denying her own abilities. Ironically, because she lives on the Discworld, what she thinks of as the "normal world" is actually just as illogical and fantastic as the underlying world of her grandfather.
** By ''Discworld/{{Thief of Time}}'', she seems to have accepted her powers, even if she's still irritated at being occasionally tapped by her grandfather for help. As a teacher she uses them to make her students' lessons more...interesting, such as taking them to view ancient battles firsthand. She also, at the end of [[spoiler:''Thief of Time'', takes them to see Nanny Ogg]], which, as she says to herself, is the equivalent of ''two'' lessons.
** There's also Rincewind, an unremarkable wizard who has a bad habit of getting into adventure. He's even quite aware of it, but still insists that he wants to go home. When people try to say that he must enjoy it, he retorts that he rather ''likes'' being bored, as it generally means no one's trying to harm him.
** And Carrot, a HiddenHeir who's quite happy to ''stay'' hidden.
*** Calling Carrot normal is a bit of a stretch, though, and he doesn't seem to have any problem with that.
* Two of Tolkien's books, ''TheHobbit'' and ''TheLordOfTheRings'' use and subvert this trope. In ''The Hobbit'', Bilbo gets swept up into an adventure that hobbits usually despise in favor of a quiet life, and later on in LOTR Bilbo expresses interest in going on an adventure again. Frodo has a talk with Gandalf expressing this trope, and is almost ready to go back to living a normal hobbit life after reaching Rivendell (which is only the beginning of his journey).
** The end of the third book explores this more — probably somewhat due to Tolkien's own war experiences. The Hobbits return to the Shire, but in the end, Frodo cannot stay due to his lingering injury and his exposure to the One Ring. Samwise, too, aged and widowed, also [[spoiler:follows Frodo and Goes West with the Elves]]. Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, on the other hand, [[spoiler:never having been Ringbearers, live out their days in the Shire.]]
* Subverted in NeilGaiman's ''{{Neverwhere}}'', where the protagonist spends most of the book (or series) trying to get back to his normal life, and when he finally succeeds, realizes he doesn't want that any more, and returns to the "fairy world".
* Harry Dresden of TheDresdenFiles repeatedly mentions he'd have liked to live a normal life and especially not know about all the supernatural nasties out to get/eat humans. He makes a similar note about The Archive, a little girl who has all of humanity's accumulated knowledge and thus never really had a childhood. She also all has all the memories of [[spoiler:her maternal ancestors, including her mother who committed suicide to avoid bearing the burden of being The Archive while being jealous that her daughter would otherwise avoid it all her life. Thus the girl carries the memories of her mother's hatred towards her.]]
* Here's some fun: try counting the number of times HarryPotter says or thinks this.
** Especially as the normal he wants includes magic and a godfather who can turn into a dog.
** In fairness to Harry, the normal he wants basically translates to "I'm okay with learning that there's a secret magical world and I'm a part of it, but can I not be the part that draws all the Big Bads and plot points trying to kill me ''every fucking year'', please?" He'd just rather not be TheChosenOne.
* In the ''Andalite Chronicles'', a spin-off set of books from the ''{{Animorphs}}'' series, Elfangor, the Andalite prince who gave the Animorphs their powers in the first place, gives up his life as a war leader to live on Earth with a human woman, until the [[DungeonMaster Ellimist]] shows up and makes him give it all up. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that he had a son on Earth, who ''''became'''' one of the Animorphs.]]
** [[FiveManBand Any of the Animorphs]] would rather [[BlessedWithSuck not have their powers and just have a normal life]], at least until [[ItsPersonal they're personally affected]] by the [[AlienInvasion Yeerks]].
* At the end of ''GoodOmens'', Adam Young has decided not to use his [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] powers in any form for good or evil and to continue his life as a normal human. Which is fortunate for the world and all we know of it, as he was originally created to bring about the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalypse]] with his powers.
** Although, from the ending, it seems he lied. "Human incarnate", as Crowley puts it.
* In Lisa Shearin's ''Magic Lost, Trouble Found'' and sequel ''Armed and Magical'', main character Raine Benares is an average magic user who specializes in finding lost items. Then she forms a psychic link with the Saghred, [[ArtifactOfDoom an ancient stone with apocalyptic power]] that [[LifeEnergy eats souls for breakfast]]. The books focus on her trying to break the link with the Saghred while being pursued by villains who want to harness the Saghred's power.
* The titular character in the Alex Rider series has an I Just Want To Be Normal moment at least once in every book he's been in...and he's been in seven.
* Hugo Danner, the world's first superhero, suffered from this. Philip Wylie wrote the novel ''{{Gladiator}}'' in 1930, featuring Hugo who was super-strong, fast, and with skin too tough to be pierced by a machine gun. Naturally he mopes about it for 332 pages before being struck by lightning and reduced to ash. On the bright side, two Jewish kids from Cleveland read the novel and came up with [[{{Superman}} a more cheerful version]].
* Flinx, the major protagonist of AlanDeanFoster's ''HumanxCommonwealth'' universe, frequently has occasion to wish he did not have [[TheEmpath empathic powers]] as the result of a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetics experiment]] by a group of {{Evilutionary Biologist}}s. Especially when the BadAss allies, CoolStarship, and the whole [[WalkingTheEarth exploring the galaxy]] thing get overshadowed by being told he's TheChosenOne fated to confront an UltimateEvil; being [[SternChase pursued]] by people who want to variously "fix" him, imprison him, or kill him for being TheChosenOne; and possibly his [[SuperPowerMeltdown brain exploding]] from his evolving powers. {{Wangst}}, thy name is Flinx.
* Nudge in MaximumRide. In fact, in ''Max'', she so desperately wants to go to a "normal" school, that she's willing to cut her own wings off. [[spoiler:She doesn't, though, because Max lets her go. After a while, she comes back, wings and all.]]
* Garion in ''The {{Belgariad}}''. The phrase "Why me?" becomes a running joke over the series.
* Arthur Penhaligon in ''The {{Keys to the Kingdom}}'' spends ''five whole books'' of a seven-book series wishing for a normal life, ultimately making things much harder on himself to avoid becoming immortal. At one point he even ''re-breaks his own leg'' to stay normal. By the sixth book, [[spoiler:he realizes that if he ''hadn't'' become the Rightful Heir, he'd be dead, so best suck it up and get on with things. Of course, by this point he was already irreversibly immortal, so perhaps this was merely his way of dealing with it.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

*''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' often had bouts of wanting to be normal.
--> '''Buffy''': I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one.
** In a season 3 episode Buffy is unknowingly weakened to prepare her for an upcoming test. As she lives her life without her powers, she realizes that she can't be normal anymore, both because she can't ignore the monsters who are out there, and to be able to defend herself if she runs into male trouble.
** In Season 7, Buffy and Faith had a discussion about how being Slayers have screwed up thier lives, but concluded that being hot chicks with super powers helped take the sting off.
**Technically subverted in the series finale when Buffy becomes "normal" by making thousands of other girls Slayers as well thus ending her uniqueness but preserving her powers.
* So did the witches from ''{{Charmed}}''
** That is an understatement. It is the plot for every other episode.
** Phoebe seems to like being a witch, though. In spite of having the lamest power of all of them.
** This trope is practically Piper's mantra.
* Claire Bennet from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Conversely, Hiro Nakamura and Peter Petrelli both ''[[JumpedAtTheCall desperately want]]'' to have powers, even and especially when there's very little evidence to suggest that they ''do''. ([[EvilCounterpart As does Sylar.]] Heh, heh.)
** In season two, Claire becomes the classic inversion -- now that she's in hiding and being ''forced'' to act as normal and unexceptional as possible, she's discontented and wants to do great things. She follows through on this new desire in Season Three, sacrificing the chance for a normal life (including not being hunted by the government) to help other fugitives.
** In Volume Four, former villain Doyle decides that he wants to go back to his old life as a puppeteer. With the government rounding up people with abilities, he is forced to turn to Claire for assistance. This is doubly ironic - not only did Claire use to want a normal life, but the last time they met, Doyle held Claire and both her mothers captive for hours.
* In the classic series of ''DoctorWho'', several companions left to resume "normal" lives, after having adventured through time and space. Big examples are companions like Ian and Barbara, although Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, proves to be a curious and conspicuous addition, especially given that she was likely not human.
** Exceptions: In ''TheSarahJaneAdventures'' and several ExpandedUniverse works, several ex-companions are revealed to have had trouble adjusting to normalcy after leaving. In the new series, Rose explicitly references this.
** In the new series two-parter "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", The Doctor himself becomes John Smith, a normal human living a normal life, but [[TenMinuteRetirement has to give it all up again to save the world.]]
***In the novel the episode was adapted from, he did it specifically to [[spoiler:find out what being a normal human was like]].
** The new series in particular has often made the point about how the Doctor, while capable of so much, is incapable of living the simple, normal life taken for granted by mere humans. He's occasionally expressed envy about this, but he's never really shown a desire to actually ''be'' normal (outside the abovementioned Human Nature example).
* Similarly, in ''StarTrekVoyager'', some of the crew expressed uncertainty as to how they would adjust to life on Earth if they ever reached it.
* The entire premise of ''ForeverKnight'' revolves around the main character wanting to be normal.
* Ditto {{Angel}}, who took some comfort in a prophecy that said he would one day become human... though not till after the apocalypse.
** In an early first season episode, Angel actually ''becomes'' human. However, once he realizes that this would mean he couldn't fight the baddies, as his superhuman strength would be gone, he goes to the extreme of undoing the change. He still likes the idea of becoming human, just not while there are bad guys to fight.
** In the series finale, Angel is confronted with a choice -- he can either abandon all hope of ever fulfilling the prophecy, or abandon his campaign to stop the BigBad. He chooses the former without hesitation (as he had to, or his cover would be broken), but we see him upset about it later.
** In the canon comic follow up, Angel is currently [[spoiler:a human]]. However, the powers responsible for it have less than benevolent reasons for changing him.
* A recurring theme in ''HighlanderTheSeries'' was main character Duncan [=MacLeod=] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever bemoaning his immortal status]].
* ''{{Bewitched}}'' and ''IDreamOfJeannie'' are undoubtedly amongst the oddest examples of this trope. Not so much Samantha or Jeannie - that is a fairly clear case of LoveMakesYouDumb. Darrin Stephens and Tony Nelson, on the other hand, are men so heroically attuned to dullness and normalcy that their response to the beautiful, supernaturally powered women who are in love with them is to ignore and reject the supernatural bits. Major Nelson is particularly bizarre in this regard since he doesn't have to deal with a mother-in-law like Endora who might sour him on magic ''and'' he has an exciting job (astronaut)!
** An episode of ''Bewitched'' actually played with what would happen if this trope was ever subverted and Darren was happy and even encouraging Samantha to use her powers for their own benefit. In the end, Samantha herself was unhappy because she really just wanted to be a normal housewife and use her powers relatively sensibly instead of rewriting reality to bend to her will and she and Darren agreed to hit the ResetButton and revert things to normal.
*** Really, Samantha could be seen as an inversion, since bending reality on a whim ''is'' normal for her and her people. Maror Nelson, on the other hand, plays this trope straight, almost to the point of InsaneTrollLogic.
* River Tam of ''{{Firefly}}'' actually has a rather heartbreaking speech in the episode "Objects in Space" where she says that she just wants to be accepted by the crew and be a normal person. The heartbreaking part is this is a farewell speech she says as she surrenders to a bounty hunter so her friends can be safe and not hunted by the government anymore.
**Though it turns out this is [[spoiler:just a XanatosGambit to get him outside the ship and lead him into an ambush]].
* The main character in the 2000 ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'' series spends a great deal of time trying to get rid of the implanted gland that gives him his invisibility powers, though more because of the [[PsychoSerum side effects]] than because he objects to the invisibility itself.
* The main character of ''New Amsterdam'' is immortal until he meets his true love. You'd think he'd want to avoid doing this, but he can't wait to meet her/get rid of the immortality [[WhoWantsToLiveForever so he can stop outliving his girlfriends, wives, and children]].
* Sam from ''QuantumLeap'' wanted to return to his life in the future, but when the opportunity arose, he had to leap back in to save Al from being killed, thus returning to the cycle and forgetting much about his past/future.
* Sam from ''{{Reaper}}''. In early episodes, he was even trying to run away from/hide the vessels he was to use to capture the escaped souls. They followed him. However, in later episodes, he's wised up, even telling [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] to "just cut to the chase," so to speak.
* In ''{{Smallville}}'', Clark has said numerous times that his goal is to live like and be an ordinary human. [[TheChosenOne Somehow]], many viewers [[BecauseDestinySaysSo doubt this will be the case]].
* Both ''{{Supernatural}}'' boys have gone through this phrase at some point. Sam ran away to college and spent the first season wanting to go back after they defeat the {{big bad}}. And as for Dean, he spent most of Season Two either wanting to jump off a bridge or at least take a break from hunting.
** Looks like they got this from their mother who was a [[spoiler:hunter]] before John proposed.
* In ''YoungDracula'', Vlad wants nothing more than to be a normal boy with a normal family. Jonathan definitely does not want to grow up to be a vampire hunter like his father.
* AceLightning's Mark Hollander regularly just wanted to be normal, rather than the elected sidekick of a hero from a videogame.
* In a more mundane example, {{House}} has had moments of just wanting to be normal. The most notable example would be a Season Three episode where he wants to harvest the patient's (a girl who can't feel pain) spinal nerves and replace his damaged thigh muscle. He doesn't go through with it, thanks to an attack of conscience/Wilson, but it's still rather pathetic.
* Another mundane example would be Jen on ''TheITCrowd'' who at one point screams that the geeks she works with have turned her into one of them.
* Ned in ''PushingDaisies'' is actually pretty good about avoiding this, despite being very much BlessedWithSuck. He's had a few moments of it in the show proper, and almost certainly felt this way all the time as a kid. Chuck, on the other hand, while not actually having powers, seems to want a normal life, or at least a ''more'' normal one.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]

* In a non-superpower example, Solid Snake of the ''MetalGear'' series made three separate attempts to live a normal life in isolation, attempting to escape the cycle of violence and death that had killed so many people around him. Without fail, he was back fighting the titular HumongousMecha within a few years at most.
* Chun Li in the ''StreetFighter'' franchise. Within the games themselves, she is often mentioned as wanting to go back to living a normal life after she avenges her father. However, since she just CantStayNormal, her attempts at living said normal life tend to go astray mainly because she actually does like street fighting.
* In ''TheSims 2'', this is generally how sims without the knowledge aspiration react to being turned into a monster. They will constantly have the want to be normal come up in their slot, or the want for one of their friends or family to be normal. You can just ignore this with no negative consequences though, or you can cash in on the points and buy the curing potion. Note that sims who ''do'' have the knowledge aspiration have this a fear instead.
* [[spoiler:Vayne]] in ''ManaKhemia''. Also known as, in this troper's opinion, [[spoiler:why the ending sucks.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Nicely subverted in [[http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus13.html this]] strip from the webcomic ''{{Minus}}''.
* NowhereUniversity: Edward has a brief spell of this after discovering PsychicPowers, but [[http://nowhereu.comicgenesis.com/d/20080603.html quickly thinks better]].
* In ''Arthur, King Of Time And Space'', Arthur doesn't want to be High King of Britain (or High King of British Space, or C.E.O. of Excallicorp), but his sense of responsibility is too strong to give it up.
* Zoe is like this a bit in ''SluggyFreelance''. She just wants to graduate from college and get a good job, while all her friends are more interested in summoning demons, exploring [[AnotherDimension other dimensions]], building giant robots, fighting vampires, or conocting various [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]]. It doesn't help that, while the other characters can cast spells, build MadScientist style inventions, or kill demons with a swing of their sword, Zoe's "power" is turning into a camel whenever someone says "shupid" (which her friends do whenever they're feeling a bit vengeful).
* In ''{{Misfile}}'' this is Ash's eternal lament. What with the GenderBender, the drunken angel posing as her boyfriend, and being treated like the local {{Badass}}'s [[ReplacementGoldfish surrogate little sister]] you can't really blame her.
** Interestingly, Emily is actually enjoying her new life more than her old one, and is beginning to resent Ash's desire to return to the way things were.
* Played straight by Kei in ''[[http://www.revenant-braves.schala.net Circumstances of the Revenant Braves]]'', until he realizes that having the power to do real good is what he's always wanted.
*''GirlGenius'' - ironically, the deepest thoughts on the subject are given by the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050622 supposed moron.]]
* In [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=72909 Everyday Heroes]], Summer Mighty has inherited her father's powers, which caused her former friends to avoid her.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* None of the protagonists in the web fiction serial DimensionHeroes want their super powers. Of course, that doesn't stop some of them *coughRobcough* from enjoying them.
* Emma uses the exact phrase in the ''{{lonelygirl15}}'' episode "Decision Time". The series also contains a non-superpower-related example, which Daniel expresses in "The Ascension". Jonas does too, to a lesser extent.
** Jonas is still like this in the first chapter of ''[=~LG15: the resistance~=]''.
* The title character of TheSagaOfTuck has a fairly active and mad life, but [[spoiler: his discovery of his intersex medical condition]] leaves him longing for the past.
* Most of the folks in the WhateleyUniverse enjoy their abilities, but some wish, at least for a while, they could go back in other ways. Played fairly straight with Trevor/Ayla Goodkind, but then she comes from a rich family that's pretty much the leaders of the HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster groups in the world so it's sorta understandable.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]

*Several episodes of ''MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' deal with Jenny's quirky attempts to achieve normality.
*In the ''Series/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' cartoon episode "Legacy," Alexis dismisses her trillionaire heiress LonelyRichKid / RichBitch lifestyle with "IJustWantToBeNormal." As her first real friend apparently ever, she tries to hold on to her relationship with Superman, and thus normality, by scheming and manipulating and eventually going ''completely off the deep end'' into supervillainy, Luthor-style, giving up on normality in favor of Revenge.
* Aang in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', in regards to being the ChosenOne. Even after being forced to accept the call, he still holds some desire to be a normal kid. In the third season, he goes as far as to take the huge risk of enrolling in a Fire Nation school just to experience what it's like being a normal kid, despite his friends' protests.
--->'''Aang''': You don't know what it's like, Sokka -- you get to be [[BadAssNormal normal all the time]].
** The funny things is that "normal" for Aang still involves ElementalPowers, just not being [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]].
* A main plot point of the 80's ''DungeonsAndDragons'' cartoon was the kids wanting to leave their new sword-and-sorcery life behind and return to the normal world.
* In ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' Peter Parker suffers a brief bout of this. When Peter is caught having taken pictures of his [[SecretIdentity alter-ego]]'s battle with [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.Animorphism mutated geneticist]] the Lizard, after [[SecretIdentityChangeTrick claiming he was going home]], his friends and superiors at the ESU labs [[YouCannotPleaseEveryone distrust him]], and fire him from his internship. Stealing a [[PowerNullifier gene cleanser]] from the lab, Peter briefly considers taking it before remembering his [[ComesGreatResponsibility credo]]. He does, however, keep it [[ChekhovsGun hidden under his desk]].
** A desire for normalcy is also the motivation for {{Supervillain}} Electro's [[ComesGreatInsanity descent into insanity]]. Granted [[PowerIncontinence uncontrollable]] [[PsychoElectro electrical powers]] in a FreakLabAccident, he's [[FreakOut unable to cope]], and [[HostageSituation holds the lab's staff hostage]] to get them to develop a cure.
* In ''TransformersAnimated'', Blackarachnia is obsessed with removing her organic side and becoming fully robotic again despite being both CursedWithAwesome and tremendously physically attractive to about half the cast.
* Used and subverted in Disney's ''Hercules''. Because Hercules' strength often causes accidents, Hercules is shunned by the community, even though he just wants to fit in. This desire fades after he becomes a hero and puts his strength to good use. Late in the movie, Hades forces him to give up his powers to save the life of his love interest. After being drained, Hades pins Herc to the ground by throwing a barbell at him and stands over him taunting, "Now you know how it feels to be like everyone else. Isn't it ''just''...peachy?"
* Despite the page quote, [[InvaderZim Zim]] is not an example of this trope - he just tries to ''pretend'' he is normal.
* In the season two finale of TheVentureBrothers, Dean ends up admitting this during a fit of delusion.
* In SouthPark, Craig is shown to be TheChosenOne who will defeat the giant Guinea Creatures as foretold by an Incan prophecy, though he states throughout the episodes that he doesn't want to get involved in any weird adventures and just wants to stay away from the main characters (whose every schemes always ends up in [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Ensuing]]). Subverted in that his attempts at refusing the call ends up leading him to fulfill his destiny and defeat the Guinea Pirate, with him noting that life is unexpected in the end (though he still learns to never trust the gang with anything).
* Heathens! [[RudolfTheRedNosedReindeer Don't you recall ... the most famous reindeer of all]]?
* In ''DannyPhantom'', Danny tries to split his ghost and human halves to have some plain fun...[[GoneHorriblyWrong with mixed results]]. Similarly, in the finale, [[spoiler:Danny permanently gets rid of his ghost half so he can be normal, even if he does eventually get his powers back]].
** Not to mention in the pilot episode, he expresses the desire to be fully human again early on ("If my dad can invent something that accidentally made me half-ghost, why can't he invent something that turns me back to normal?!")
* In JackieChanAdventures Jackie would love nothing more than to go back to his life as a quiet and unassuming archaelogist rather than his current life as a secret agent who routinely defends the world from demons and what not.
* In one of the more recent MyLittlePony animated specials, Lily Lightly is the only unicorn whose [[CursedWithAwesome horn glows]] when she's excited or really happy, so she tries to hide it from everyone else. She even has an IWantSong about it.
[[/folder]]

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